Du Plessis disappointed as weather puts end to Super League playoff

Paarl Rocks captain Faf du Plessis was disappointed by the lack of a reserve day that did not allow his team to have a second bite of the Mzansi Super League eliminator cherry against the Jozi Stars.

Having finished third in the six-team tournament‚ the Rocks were always going to be on a hiding to nothing if the elements intervened.

That was the case on Friday evening at the Wanderers where the weather closed in after a very hot day.

While he and Stars counterpart Dane Vilas were able to exchange the toss‚ a typical Highveld wildcat thunderstorm stretched long enough through the evening to saturate the field to a point where proceedings had to be called off.

The Wanderers drains well but when the game was called off at 8.30pm‚ there were only 36 minutes before the players could have had enough time for a game.

If the rain had stopped completely‚ it would have taken an hour for the outfield to be made ready for play.

“One red flag for me is that when you have three teams in the playoffs‚ you should have a reserve day.

“If you had two semifinals then it’s not a problem, but Saturday is a spare day and there’s nothing happening.

“The worst-case scenario was the teams playing on Saturday and flying through the night. It’s not ideal but when you have a semifinal‚ you’d like to see some cricket because there’s only three teams.

“The two strongest teams are in the final though‚” Du Plessis said.

“I’ve already spoken to tournament director Russell Adams and raised my concerns about it. It’s just me offering my five cents because when you have a two against three playoff there should be a spare day that’s also available for the final.”

Du Plessis, however, showered praise on the tournament and its organisation‚ saying things ran smoothly from an administrative perspective.

“Surprisingly, the tournament has gone well. I thought there’d be things that might go wrong from an admin point of view but the tournament was run very well in all aspects.

“From a playing point of view‚ I thought the standard of cricket was exceptional and that’s brilliant for the future.

“The challenge is getting the player around when there’s international fixtures but it’s a strong league‚” Du Plessis said.

Du Plessis was also happy with how his team played even though they were at times guilty of frittering away good games they could have won.

Du Plessis said the Stars and the Cape Town Blitz deserved to play in Sunday’s final that will take place at Newlands.

“On paper‚ the two strongest teams are playing in the final but I told the guys the game isn’t won or lost on paper,” Du Plessis said.

“We played our best cricket towards the end of the tournament and that’s the most important thing.

“I’ve experienced the same thing with the Chennai Super Kings in the Mzansi Super League.

“It’s all about peaking at the right time because we’ve played some good cricket against some good teams.

“I felt we were doing the right things at the right time but over the campaign the two top teams played consistently better cricket.”